Every year at this time we scope out whats being said about real vs. artificial Christmas trees, and while Green Frederick leans towards buying a re-plantable LOCAL real Christmas tree, there are considerations.

Take a look at Earth 911’s assessment here, with some key excerpts below:

Artificial Tree Pros:

Reuseability

Cost effectiveness

Artificial Tree Cons:

Artificial trees are typically manufactured with metal and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a non-biodegradable, petroleum-derived plastic. In addition, many older varieties may contain lead, used as a stabilizer in the manufacturing process.

Despite their PVC contents, artificial trees are nonrecyclable and nonbiodegradable, meaning they will sit in a landfill for

An artificial tree from the authors living room.

centuries after disposal. An artificial tree will last on average five to seven years, meaning you’ll eventually have to dispose of it, and many secondhand stores will not accept them. There’s also no guarantee the LED lights will last the whole time you own it, and they can’t be removed and replaced like with a real tree.

Decorating a tree from Dreamland Christmas Tree farm, Jefferson, MD

Furthermore, approximately 85 percent of artificial trees sold in the U.S. are imported from China, according to the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA), adding to their overall environmental footprint.

Approximately 25 to 30 million real Christmas trees are sold in North America each year, according to the U.S. EPA. Luckily, about 93 percent of those trees are recycled through more than 4,000 available recycling programs.

The Seton Center, a community center providing job training and preparation, dental services, a secondhand store and community meeting space among other services, opened its new building this year as a sustainable project featuring:
*permeable pavers
*solar panels
*energy conservation measures
*low-flow toilets and other water conservation resources

The building houses eight office where 11 staff members work, as well as space for social services and job training agencies who need a meeting place in the North County to meet.

Permeable pavers are made of porous material and drain rainwater quickly after it hits the parking lot, feeding it into the ground rather than washing into storm sewers.

Sister Martha and the staff can continuously monitor energy useage (or lack thereof!) in these meters.

The Seton Center encourages employees and patrons to bring reuseable bottles that can be filled easily at the fountain.

The Center began in 1969 at its building outside of town—a building that was only supposed to last 10 years, but lasted until 2017. A new center was needed to replace the deteriorating steel structure, and the order decided to use a piece of the property originally left to them in 1809 by Elizabeth Ann Seton, rather than go through an annexation process on the old county land.
They decided from the get-go to go green.

“Its in the mission of the daughters of Charity to care for the earth,” said Sister Martha Beaudoin, executive director of the Seton Center. The religious order around the world is 16000 strong, with presence in 93 countries, and is known for projects such as digging wells and working on clean water. “This project goes with what the sisters have done in the other countries.”

They instructed Morgan-Keller, the general contractor, and their architect, Scott Bowen of Washington County, to find cost-effective, sustainable solutions, and felt that they did good work in bringing the building in on budget with its sustainable elements.
And its working – Sister Martha says even with the larger (13,000 square foot), and differently shaped building, “The electric bill used to be $1,300 a month; now its $800 a month!”

Natural light and low-energy lighting filters into the Seton Center’s new store.

The nursery offers more than 50 species of shrubs and trees for large-scale plantings on private land to meet a wide variety of conservation, environmental and reforestation needs. It also offers 20 different “pollinator friendly” options.

A minimum order of 25 seedlings per species is required, and supplies are limited.

Nursery customers are mostly individual landowners. Shrub and tree plantings provide both economic and environmental benefits, including cleaner air, energy conservation, filtering and retaining water and essential habitat for wildlife.